Publication
Title
Heterochromatin anomalies and double-stranded RNA accumulation underlie C9orf72 poly(PR) toxicity
Author
Abstract
How hexanucleotide GGGGCC (G(4)C(2)) repeat expansions in C9orf72 cause frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is not understood. We developed a mouse model engineered to express poly(PR), a proline-arginine (PR) dipeptide repeat protein synthesized from expanded G(4)C(2) repeats. The expression of green fluorescent protein-conjugated (PR)(50) (a 50-repeat PR protein) throughout the mouse brain yielded progressive brain atrophy, neuron loss, loss of poly(PR)-positive cells, and gliosis, culminating in motor and memory impairments. We found that poly(PR) bound DNA, localized to heterochromatin, and caused heterochromatin protein 1 alpha (HP1 alpha) liquid-phase disruptions, decreases in HP1 alpha expression, abnormal histone methylation, and nuclear lamina invaginations. These aberrations of histone methylation, lamins, and HP1 alpha, which regulate heterochromatin structure and gene expression, were accompanied by repetitive element expression and double-stranded RNA accumulation. Thus, we uncovered mechanisms by which poly(PR) may contribute to the pathogenesis of C9orf72-associated FTD and ALS.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Science / American Association for the Advancement of Science [Washington, D.C.] - Washington, D.C., 1880, currens
Publication
Washington, D.C. : American Association for the Advancement of Science , 2019
ISSN
0036-8075 [print]
1095-9203 [online]
DOI
10.1126/SCIENCE.AAV2606
Volume/pages
363 :6428 (2019) , p. 707-+
Article Reference
eaav2606
ISI
000458874100023
Medium
E-only publicatie
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 25.09.2019
Last edited 05.09.2024
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